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Look out for the
Forestry Stewardship Council logo when buying wood or wood products. |
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This depends where you are starting from as well as where you want
to go. Sometimes very little needs doing, but at other times, a wood
will benefit from thinning, to allow the best trees to grow to
maturity. Thinning enables one to favour different species, for
example oak is particularly good for insects, and was much favoured
in previous centuries for its timber quality. In contrast sycamore
is less good for wildlife, can spread very quickly, and also happens
to get chewed a lot by grey squirrels, so the tops are often killed
and end up looking like a giant flailed hedge!
Coppicing is an option, but beware it is very labour intensive, and
the brambles do run riot for a few years, so it is not something we
would recommend very often, unless you have a local outlet for the
produce. The odd fallen tree is likely to meet your own firewood
needs.
Selling timber is however, we believe a good thing. Grown well and
replaced, it is a sustainable, renewable resource. Firewood does not
contribute to global warming, providing it is taken from a woodland
under good management, where regrowth will replace the wood taken
for burning. Growing and selling conifers (softwood) in commercial
plantations can also be undertaken in a sympathetic manner, and
reduce our need for imports. True conservation includes protecting
the earth for future generations, and that includes growing our own
needs, instead of buying imports that may be contributing to
clearance of woods in other countries. When you do buy timber
products, one safe way to know you are getting it from a safe source
is to look out for the Forestry Stewardship Council logo.
(See 'Some Common Problems' and also
www.fsc-uk.info ).
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A woodland of your own ●
Managing for conservation ●
●
Woodland grants and permissions ●
Woodland taxation ●
● Woodland insurance ●
Buying a wood ● |
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